Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

The Floods

Dr. Linh was dead before I could even scream. His brown eyes glazed over, and white foam erupted from his mouth. His body twitched once, and then fell slack. Even dead, Linh's gaze seemed to be glued to me as if to say if I can't figure you out, no one will.

Robin tried to save him, but his efforts were fruitless. He pressed two fingers to George's neck, searching for a pulse. But I could already feel the slightest flicker of kinetic energy dissipate from the doctor's heart. There was no doubt about it. The man who was once my ally, turned enemy... was gone. But I wasn't given time to linger on the fact that George was dead. Robin seized me, shocking me from my stupor.

"We have to go!" Robin urged, pulling me towards the doorway.

With one last look at Dr. Linh's motionless body, we dashed for the hallway. Robin pulled up his holographic computer, his eyes scanning information while I tried to catch any trace of my friends. Perhaps a mess of red hair, or the flick of a blue cape. But I couldn't spot any of them, especially not after we had split up to look for Manta's study. They could be anywhere by now.

Robin cursed.

"What did he do?" Robin asked quickly. "Is he going to blow the fortress? What did your metapower tell you!?"

My tongue felt like cotton in my mouth, my limbs weighted down with sandbags as we ran. But an explanation wasn't needed. A low rumble filled the air, like the sound of a conch shell against your ear... or the roaring ocean.

"I think... I think he opened the floodgates." I breathed, my head turning to follow the sound.

It could have been a scene straight out of Flushed Away. A swell of dark water erupted from the end of the hallway, frothing and foaming so high it grazed the ceiling. And it was sweeping right towards us.

"Run!" Robin yelled.

Hand in hand, we sprinted away. But we were no match for the speeding current of the ocean. It overtook our stride in seconds, slamming into us with the force of a car. The taste of salt filled my mouth and nose, confirming everything my metapower had sensed; the building was flooding.

We were blind, our bodies tumbling in the current like pebbles in a river. In a cascading wave, Robin and I were slammed into a wall so hard, I thought I felt something in my rib cage crack. But even worse, Robin's interlocked hand was torn from my grasp.

No.

My lungs burned for air as I frantically searched the water for Robin, but he had been swept away from my reach. I broke the surface, coughing and sputtering. The sour green sconces on the walls blurred together the current pulled me deeper into the lair.

"Robin!" I screamed.

No response. No sign of his struggling body. I searched blindly in the water, yelling his name as the water swept me down the hallway. I was pulled under again, the water cascading down a large staircase. Involuntarily, I gulped down mouthfuls of seawater as my head, shoulders, and limbs all took painful turns tumbling down. I had no idea to what depths of the fortress this current was sweeping me to, but at the moment I didn't care. I needed to find Dick.

I broke the surface again, treading water like my life depended on it. I tried to focus, to hone in on Robin's kinetic energy signal. Calm yourself, Jackie! My lips trembled as I took swallowing breaths. I pictured Dick's face and tried to extend my sixth sense outward, like roots from a tree.

There. A body struggling in the water behind me. I couldn't see anything, but it was Robin. I knew it was. I bit down hard on my lower lip, trying to block out the millions of joules of kinetic energy swirling in the water as I searched for an exit. It was utterly exhausting. I could feel the effort of concentrating my powers beginning to sap my strength. But I refused to let us drown.